The present invention relates to the design of golf clubs, and more particularly to the design of iron-type golf club heads and putters.
The significance of improving the mass distribution of golf club heads is well-recognized in the art. For example, perimeter weighting elements in golf club heads are commonly used to increase moment of inertia and thereby provide enhanced resistance to twist, resulting in a more forgiving golf club head in the case of an off-center golf ball impact.
Those skilled in the art have long recognized that a low and rearward center of gravity may provide performance benefits such as a higher launch angle for higher handicapped golfers, as well as improved feel. Some of these benefits have been realized via “undercut” iron-type club heads, i.e. golf club heads with perimeter weighting elements having sole portions with mass concentrated towards the rear thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The FIG. 1 cross-sectional view depicts a golf club head 110 in an orientation wherein it would be addressing a golf ball to be struck, i.e., a so-called “address position.” The club head comprises a striking wall 112, a top portion 114 and a sole portion 116 extending rearwardly from the striking wall 112. The interior cavity surface of sole portion 116 comprises surface portions 115, which intersect at corners 113, forming an undercut 117. Undercut 117 may be considered to be a corner-type undercut. Despite performance benefits such as increased moment of inertia about the center of gravity and improved feel, golf club head designs having undercut configurations of the corner-type may present problems in casting and manufacturing, thereby increasing overall production cost.
Furthermore, Golf club heads enhance the golfer's performance most successfully where the golf club head has solid, uninterrupted surfaces, thereby instilling confidence in the player, a key element of golf club performance. Undercut configurations of existing golf club heads do not provide optimal mass distribution with respect to heel-side and toe-side weighting. The existing undercut configurations may interfere with the solid and continuous appearance of the golf club head, resulting in perceived instability and corresponding poor performance.
Undercut configurations of existing perimeter-weighted club heads do not provide adequate mass distribution relative to the heel and toe portions.
Therefore, a need exists for a golf club head which redistributes mass such that optimal performance characteristics are achieved while overcoming the problems previously mentioned herein.